Ex-pat family life with crochet, arts & crafts thrown in.

Weather

I wasn’t planning on going for a walk up the Med Steps this morning, but I’m so glad I did. It was beautiful and I also got the chance to climb up through the clouds again. You may remember I took a similar walk like this just under a year ago… A mini stroll in the mist.

The sun was shining as we set off from the western side of the rock but as we walked around to the eastern side it was a bit cloudy. You could still feel the sunshine beating down through the clouds though.

Looking up the sky immediately above us was so clear and bright!

As we climbed and looked out to sea it became obvious the clouds were actually forming a low blanket which the top of Gibraltar was just poking up out of.

From the summit you could just spy the northern tip poking out above the clouds.

Looking north﻿

Looking south towards Morocco, the clouds were creeping around from the Mediterranean and into the Strait of Gibraltar.

Looking southTo the north, on the western side, the airport runway and part of town had been hidden from view as the misty cloud swept around and into the Bay.

Looking north westWe headed back down the Rock after our exertions in the cool shade feeling proud of ourselves for having achieved our goal. Within an hour the two cloudy arms had joined across the Bay and were encircling us in a giant cloudy hug.

I drove into town to find myself severely underdressed (the T shirt was a bad idea!) and shrouded in cloud…. Can you believe these two photos (above and below) were taken just 10 minutes apart?!

Looking up the Rock from townI’m pleased to report that the cloud has now burned off and we are basking in bright sunshine and blue skies!

Ahhh that’s better!

Main StreetHow many seasons in one morning?! The weather and the micro climates around the Rock are part of the fun of living here. It’s not just the apes, British Bobbies and red phone boxes that make Gibraltar unique.

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Wow-wee, it’s been rather wet in these parts lately. We’ve had heavy rain storms for about two weeks but last weekend was something else. Thunder, lightning, hailstones and torrential downpours have all featured in recent days.

This satellite photo from our local weather forecasters MeteoGib shows the storm clouds covering much of the Iberian peninsula, we are under there somewhere.

The statistics show that over the weekend more than the average monthly rainfall for December fell on the Rock.

I have to admit to hunkering down for most of the weekend and didn’t set foot outside. Advice from the emergency services was to stay indoors unless absolutely necessary, so for that reason I don’t have any dramatic weather photos of my own to show you. Over the weekend, there was a lot of shocking footage on social media showing dramatic flood waters gushing down the narrow streets and steps in the old town centre of Gibraltar.

Across the border in Spain, tragically several lives were lost in the flood waters and many properties were inundated with water. On Monday morning a lot of cross-border workers were unable to come into Gibraltar because of flood damaged roads being closed.

The Monday morning rush hour was remarkably good natured considering how slow the traffic was moving. We’re normally a family of walking commuters, but the volume of the rain meant we opted to take the car on the school run and I ran Mr Postcard into work. On a clear day, you can normally see the Rock from this vantage point between the buildings – it was shrouded in misty rain.

A little detour on the way home took me down by the side of the sea at Camp Bay. Although the weather was a lot quieter by the time I arrived, the evidence of the storms was clear with all the rocks washed up from the beach.

There was also a bit of debris down at Europa Point. Rock falls were reported further north from this point on the East-side close to Eastern Beach. I gave that area a wide berth for obvious reasons.

There weren’t any tourists trying to take photos across the Strait of Gibraltar towards Morocco!

In town, some businesses face a fare bit of clearing up after the rain water encroached on their properties.

I’m pleased to say that yesterday the sun shone and it looks like we’ll be able to enjoy a few days of dry weather for a bit. Thank goodness for that!

Many thanks to MeteoGib for their kind permission to use the tweets and satellite photograph.

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I’m afraid I haven’t had the time for a stroll this week. Family commitments and the production of World Book Day costumes have eaten into my time somewhat. Nevertheless I thought I’d share a few bright sunshiny photos with you as it’s been feeling rather springlike here of late.Commonwealth Park

Next weekend we are looking forward to welcoming some very special family visitors to Gibraltar and I do so hope this lovely spell of weather lasts for their arrival. Commonwealth Park

It’s still long sleeve weather here in spite of the gorgeous blue skies, layers of clothing are the key – so you add or take them off depending on the time of day and the strength of the sun!

Main Street

That said, there are plenty of tourists ambling up and down Main Street in T-shirts and shorts but perhaps they are more used to colder temperatures than we are these days. I’ve clearly been here long enough to go soft and I head out in the morning with a vest, jumper and thick coat. You’d never think I’d grown up Up North.

View of part of the harbour

Thanks for stopping by, hopefully the normal service will have resumed next week and we can go for another stroll – there are so any interesting things here in Gibraltar to share with you all! Until next time, bye for now.

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It’s been a bit wet here in Gibraltar this week. Autumn has well and truly arrived! We’ve had some major deluges and thunder storms which have caused chaos for many.

There have been floods AND a landslide!

This photo is courtesy the Government of Gibraltar and shows how the retaining wall below the Rock Hotel collapsed and sent a huge amount of earth and trees across one of Gibraltar’s major routes, Europa Road (read more about it on Your Gibraltar TV).

This was the scene this morning. It’s big job, the authorities are hoping to have the road reopened to two-way traffic by Monday.

Elsewhere in Gibraltar there was severe flooding on Queensway which also made travel by car or bus erm, rather interesting.

We had a rather gloomy start to the week all round. Soggy school runs (you just know the really heavy showers always coincide with a lunchtime or afternoon pick-up), wet washing you just can’t dry (central heating is non-existent in Gibraltar therefore there are no radiators to toast your damp socks on!) and interesting fashion choices (waterproof trousers & coat worn with flip flops).

I know that a couple of weeks ago I was waxing lyrical about the rain and how refreshing it was after a long, hot summer but I’m kind of over that fascination!

Blue sky, come back please!

Please!!!

Oh that’s better, thank you! It’s so lovely to see you again.

And of course blue sky and sunshine = sunsets….

What a corker we had last night, I think you’ll agree that it was stunning.